Red Wings News and Notes

By Matt Condon

July 17th, 2000

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At the age of 66, coach Scotty Bowman will be returning for another season behind the Red Wings’ bench. Bowman’s return, along with the re-signing of veteran defenseman Larry Murphy, could spell bad news for young defensemen Jiri Fischer and Jesse Wallin. With Murphy back, the Red Wings defense reads as follows: Niklas Lidstrom, Chirs Chelios, Steve Duchesne, Larry Murphy, Todd Gill, Aaron Ward, Jiri Fischer, and Jesse Wallin. Throw in a Mathieu Dandenault, and possibly a Yan Golubovsky, and that proves a very deep defensive corps. With so many veterans, you’d expect fatigue and injury alone to fetch some playing time for the likes of Fischer and Wallin, either also very capable of beating out their veteran couterparts for a spot in the every day lineup. But, factor in Scotty Bowman’s affinity for veteran players, and the rumored strong push by Wings GM Ken Holland to sign Unrestricted Free Agent Mathieu Schneider, and you can almost see possible playing time for youngsters like Fischer and Wallin fading into the distance. If the Wings manage to add Schneider to their already deep blueline, Wallin will likely end up wasting away in the AHL for another season, while Fischer watches the big club play from the press box. All and all, not a great time to be a young defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings franchise.